From Marianne: “Gardeners of Good. I like that. I’m a gardener too, and one of the things we learn is that plants do best with gentle encouragement. You can’t ever FORCE a plant to grow; you can only try to figure out what it needs to be happy and then try to provide that. And aren’t people the same? We thrive when we receive encouragement.
From my long-time reading of your blog, I see that you have the “gift of encouragement.” You are an encourager of people — I know this because I have personally been encouraged in my creativity by your writings — and I think this gift also makes you a natural gardener. ?”
Thanks, Marianne; I love the idea of encouraging my flowers and not harassing or pressuring them.
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From JoyDawn:
“Appreciated the thoughtful words and photos of tender times:
. . new tree twig growing
. .donkey hugging
. .aging cat sunning
. .dog dutifully waiting
. .snail recognizing
. . flowers blooming, delighting, and the
naming assisting a Dylexic writer.
This all made me SMILE . . .
for I’m Dylexic too (not a writer, became
teacher.)”
Thanks, JoyDawn; your students are fortunate to have you as a teacher.
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So far, thanks to the Gardeners of Good, I’ve learned and retained the names of four flowers (it will take a few more rounds to make this permanent in my head). This is more than in my decades of living.
Today, I’d love some help with three new plants that have emerged, and I don’t know their names.
One is in a back porch garden; two are in my raised garden beds. The first is up above the featured image.
Here’s the second:
And here’s the third:
I’ve tried using my new plant app but find it confusing and conflicting. It’s exciting to have accepted this generous help and found a new way to break through my Dyslexia; I’ve never been able to remember the names of this many flowers; I’m eager to go much farther and grateful for your help.
I see that gardeners are generous, empathetic, and sensitive people, as a rule. I don’t know all of them, but I’ve found some exceptional ones. They are knowledgeable and generous.
#1 don’t know
#2 spiderwort (normally blue flowers, hopefully you bought a pink flowering one, the natural blue flower tends to pink in the presence of radiation)
#3 looks like basil
To do serious plant ID you need to see flowers, because leaf form is not a good indicator, it can be very variable.
I’m not sure about the first photo-might even be a weed.
The second one looks like a geranium-and the leafy plant looks like basil to me.
But I’m no expert.
Hi Jon, The first one looks like a weed, 2nd- the plant with strap like leaves and the purple/blue flower is Tradescantia (common name Spiderwort) the scalloped leaf in the same picture looks like ground ivy which is not an ivy and is considered a weed. I would remove it as it spreads extensively, taking nutrients and water from other species. and the 3rd looks like zinnia or perhaps 4 o’clocks (Mirabilis). If you had them last year, sometimes they re-seed themselves. I just found some Zinnia seedlings in an area I had them last year. Do you recall planting seeds in this area or are these in gardens around the house? I miss plant and insect ID as I did it quite extensively in my former job. Let the one in the first picture grow a bit more to help in ID. Hope this helps.
Second round-the first looks like Fireweed (Erechtites hieracifolia) if you want to check on your app.
The first looks like American Burned, a weed, indeed. Second is spiderwort, third looks like a Zinnia.
Try using Plant Net. It seems pretty easy and reliable.
Not sure of #1, either.
#2 is definitely Spiderwort…I have them in blue, or a blue/light blue combo, but every so often one in fuchsia like yours. Never knew about the radiation thing, that Sharon states…will have to check that out.
#3 looks like a Zinnia in the works, but hard to tell without a bud…yet. Could also be basil, though different from mine.
We’ll see…
1) American burnweed or fireweed. 2) Virginia spiderwort (popular ornamental and a good potted houseplant. 3) Common zinnea, and the long leaf to the side is “False Solomon’s seal” OR “Starry false lily of the valley” it carries both names. I’ve found that the more I use my plant ID app, the more reliable it becomes. Do consider using the little button at the bottom of the screen that says “+Add to My Garden” the more you teach your app, . . . Also, I’m not a computer whiz but I scanned your photos into my plant ID app and got the results, above — all four of them.
About the fireweed: touch once and you probably won’t forget it.
One more thing: If you start reading up on weeds, you’ll discover that many of them have a stage when they are very beneficial to people. My daughter received stinging nettle sprouts (with excellent directions for how to prepare for human consumption) in her CSA box. They’re only good to people and good for people for a brief time and then not at all good. During that brief time they are VERY good for people.